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The story originates from a 1476 story of Mariotto and Gianozza by Masuccio Salernitano, in Il Novelino.
Luigi da Porto's Istoria novellamente ritrovata di due Nobili Amanti gave the story much of its modern form,
renaming the lovers to Romeus and Giulietta and shifting the action from Siena to Verona. Da Porto's story was
taken up and included by Matteo Bandello in his Novelle of 1554, and versified by Arthur Brooke, whose narrative
poem "Tragicall Historye of Romeus and Juliet", written in 1562, was the source for Shakespeare's Romeo and Juliet.
Shakespeare enriched its texture through his vivid characterizations of both major and minor characters,
in particular the Nurse and Mercutio.
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